Longford Town F.C.

Longford Town

Full name

Longford Town Football Club

Nickname(s)

Town or De Town

Founded

1924

Ground

City Calling Stadium, Longford,
County Longford

Capacity

6,850

Chairman

Jim Hanley

Manager

Alan Mathews

League

League of Ireland First Division

2016

League of Ireland Premier Division, 12th (relegated)

Website

Club home page

Home colours

Away colours

Longford Town Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Bhaile Longfort) is an Irish football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club, founded in 1924^[1] and elected to the league in 1984,^[1] is based in Longford, County Longford and play their home matches at Strokestown Road, which for sponsorship reasons is also known as 'City Calling Stadium'. Club colours are red and black, and the club goes by the nickname 'De Town'.

In October 2016, the club's senior side suffered relegation from the Premier Division at the end of a very disappointing 2016 season. Previously 'the Town' was promoted to the Premier Division at the end of the 2014 season following a seven-year stint in the First Division.

History

Longford Town was founded in 1924 but had to wait 60 years for election to the League of Ireland in 1984. In their first season in the league they finished last in the Premier Division and were one of the four sides to be relegated to the newly created First Division for the following season.^[1] In their second season they finished bottom of the First Division with only 7 points. They finished in the bottom six of the ten team First Division in each of the next eleven seasons. In the 1998–99 season they missed out a place in the promotion/relegation playoff by just four points. The following season saw a further improvement when they finished 2nd in the First Division and as a result won promotion to the Premier Division. Longford had a decent season in the Premier Division in 2000–01 finishing in mid-table. That season also saw the club reach the FAI Cup final for the first time where they lost 1–0 to Bohemian. As Bohemian also won the League title that season, Longford Town FC qualified to play in the UEFA Cup in July 2001. A meeting over 2 games with Bulgarian club side PFC Litex Lovech ended in a 3–1 aggregate victory for the Bulgarians.

Things were less comfortable in the league during the 2001–02 season after that as they ended up in the relegation/promotion playoff. They had to play Finn Harps and they survived in Premier Division just about. They won in a penalty shootout after the tie ended 3–3 on aggregate. After that tough season the club became an established top division team with four successive top six finishes in the four seasons immediately after that. They also reached three more FAI Cup finals winning two of them. In 2004 they produced a cup double by winning the League of Ireland Cup in addition to retaining the FAI Cup.^[1] Because of their back-to-back FAI Cup successes the club entered European competition for two seasons in a row. On both occasions, however, they lost in their opening tie. In 2006 Longford finished in 8th place in the league. The 2007 season was a disappointing one for the midlands club as they finished last in the division and as a result were relegated. That is not the whole story, though, as the club were deducted six points during the season for failing to comply with club licensing procedures.^[2] These six points proved crucial in the end, as without this deduction they would have finished safe from relegation and the relegation play-off. This cost the club dearly, as there followed six frustrating years in the First Division, before being promoted as champions at the end of the 2014 season. The title was clinched following a resounding 5–0 victory at home to Shamrock Rovers B on October 3, 2014. ^[3] In their first season back in the Premier Division, the Town finished off the 2015 season in a very respectable 6th position. The 2016 league season was very disappointing with Longford finishing bottom and relegated back to the First Division.

European record

Record by competition

UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League:

Appearances	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
3	6	1	1	4	6	12

^[4]

Past opponents

Season	Competition	Team	Score
2001–02	UEFA Cup 1st Qualifying Round	PFC Litex Lovech	1–1, 0–2 (1–3 agg.)
2004–05	UEFA Cup 1st Qualifying Round	FC Vaduz	0–1, 2–3 (2–4 agg.)
2005–06	UEFA Cup 1st Qualifying Round	Carmarthen Town	2–0, 1–5 (3–5 agg.)

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Paul Skinner
2	DF	Jamie Mulhall
3	DF	Conor Powell (captain)
4	DF	Noel Haverty
6	MF	Mark Hughes
7	MF	Kealan Dillon
9	FW	Don Cowan
10	FW	Cody Mulhall
11	MF	Kevin O'Connor
12	DF	Tristan Noack Hofmann

No.	Position	Player
15	FW	David O'Sullivan
18	GK	Ian Molloy
19	MF	Kaleem Simon
23	FW	Cian Fay
24	MF	Rhys Gorman
25	MF	Karl Chambers
TBA	GK	Jack Brady
TBA	MF	Aidan Friel
TBA	MF	Gavin Boyne
TBA	MF	Dylan McGlade

Coaching and medical staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Alan Mathews
Assistant Manager	Gary Cronin
Coach	Kevin Doherty
Goalkeeping Coach	Graham Byas
Strength & Conditioning Coach	Declan O'Brien
Physio	Albert Byrne
Kit Manager	Ian Maher

Honours

FAI Cup: 2
- 2003, 2004
League of Ireland Cup: 1
- 2004
League of Ireland First Division: 1
- 2014
FAI Intermediate Cup: 5
- 1936–37, 1954–55, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1968–69
Connacht Junior Cup 1
- 1931–32
Enda McGuill Cup: 1
- 2002–03

Records

League victory: 6–0 v Shamrock Rovers F.C. B, 30 May 2014 ^[1]
League defeat: 1–8 v Waterford United, 12 November 1989 ^[1]
Points in a season: 70, 1999–00 ^[1]
League goals in a season (player): 24, David O'Sullivan, 2013 ^[1]
League goals: 60, David O'Sullivan, 2013–present ^[1]
League appearances: 250, Stephen O'Brien, 1998–2005 ^[1]

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Longford Town Club Information". airtricityleague.ie. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
↑ Longford deducted six points for licensing indiscretion, eleven-a-side.com, 2007. Retrieved on January 5, 2008
↑ "Longford Town claim First Division crown and promotion". Rte.ie. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
↑ "Longford –". Uefa.com. Retrieved 2016-11-07.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Longford Town F.C..

Official club website

Longford Town F.C.

Players
Managers

Stadium

City Calling Stadium

Matches

FAI Cup finals	2001 2004 2007

Leinster Senior Cup finals	2014

League of Ireland clubs

Premier Division	Bohemians Bray Wanderers Cork City Derry City Drogheda United Dundalk Finn Harps Galway United Limerick Shamrock Rovers Sligo Rovers St Patrick's Athletic

First Division	Athlone Town Cabinteely Cobh Ramblers Longford Town Shelbourne UCD Waterford United Wexford Youths

Former clubs	Drumcondra Frankfort Home Farm Kilkenny City Mervue United Monaghan United Newcastle West Pioneers St. Francis St. James's Gate Salthill Devon Shamrock Rovers B Thurles Town Transport

Defunct clubs	Albert Rovers Bray Unknowns Brideville Brooklyn Cork Cork City F.C. (1938–1940) Cork Alberts Cork Athletic Cork Bohemians Cork Celtic Cork Hibernians Cork United F.C. (1940–1948) Cork United F.C. (1979–1982) Dolphin Dublin City Dublin United Evergreen United Fordsons Jacobs Kildare County Midland Athletic Olympia Rathmines Athletic Reds United Shelbourne United Sporting Fingal YMCA

League of Ireland Premier Division

2017 clubs

Seasons

A Division	1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85

Premier Division	1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Awards

League of Ireland clubs in European football

Bohemians Bray Wanderers Cork Celtic Cork City Cork Hibernians Derry City Drogheda United Drumcondra Dundalk Finn Harps Home Farm Limerick Longford Town Shamrock Rovers Shelbourne Sligo Rovers St Patrick's Athletic Sporting Fingal F.C. Waterford United

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